Aang's Dirty Little Secret
by echgrl
Summary: When Katara takes too long for Aang, he falls for someone else.  Who, you ask?  A girl from the Fire Nation School he enrolls in, but when she comes along secretly with the gang is it too close for Aang's comfort?Will On Ji ever find out who he really is?
1. In Disguise

**Hey readers! This is the edited version! In the next chapter I will have a major change so be sure to read that! To know it's edited just see if there is a note at the top and it will be the edited version. It is like this for the first 4 chapters. Thanks! I'll fix the other chapters ASAP! I don't own Avatar by the way. Or some of the story for that matter because a lot is from the episode Headband. When you get farther in the story it will focus less on facts and more on a relationship between Aang and On Ji! ;)**

Chapter 1

In Disguise

Katara and I waterbended mist around us for camouflage to get down to a small cave as Sokka told us his schedule and Toph picked her nose.

"I think I see a cave below!" I said.

"Shhh! Keep quiet!" Sokka yelled in a hushed tone.

I airbended the cloud off of us so everyone could see. We landed by the cave and got off of Appa.

Sokka looked suspiciously behind a rock and looked at me, "Great job with the cloud camo but next time let's disguise ourselves as the kinda cloud that knows how to keep its mouth shut!" He turned and looked behind the rock again.

Toph sighed. "Yeah we wouldn't want a bird to hear us chatting up there and turn us in."

"Hey! We're in enemy territory," Sokka replied as he pointed upwards at the birds. "Those are enemy birds!"

One hopped on his head and chirped. We all laughed at him.

We walked forwards to the cave and then Sokka jumped from Appa onto the ground in front of us and looked around.

He ran forward. "Well this is it: This is how we'll be living until the invasion begins. Hiding in cave. After cave. After cave," He hung his head, "After cave."

Katara spoke. "Sokka we don't need to become cave people. What we need is some new clothes." Katara looked down at herself.

I agreed. "Yeah. Blending in is better than hiding out. If we get Fire Nation disguises, we'll be just as safe as we would be hiding in a cave."

"Plus, they have real food out there. Does anyone wanna sit in the dirt and eat cave hoppers?" Toph hit the wall and some cave hoppers jumped out and Momo came and ate one.

An understanding seemed to pass between all of us.

Sokka shrugged. "Looks like we got outvoted, sport. Let's get some new clothes!"

We picked out clothes from a man who was probably washing clothes for a living. I didn't like the idea of stealing at first, but if it was crucial to our survival, it was mandatory.

I tied a headband across my forehead to conceal my airbending tattoos.

"Ta da!" I said as I turned around. "Normal kid."

"Hmmm…" Toph said. "I should probably wear shoes, but then I won't be able to see as well."

She took the shoes she stole and yelled, "Sorry shoes!" as she stuck out the bottom with her foot.

It landed on Sokka's face. I smiled, giggling inside.

She added. "Stylish shoe for the blind earthbender."

"How do I look?" said Katara.

I looked her up and down. Whoa… I blushed then noticed her necklace.

"Uh…your mom's necklace…"

She looked down. "Oh…Oh yeah… I guess it's pretty obviously water tribe, isn't it?" She took it off.

We made our way through the shops and everyone got what they needed as I put Momo in my jacket, and then we stopped at a meat place.

"Oh; we're going to a meat place?" I said, grossed out.

"Come on, Aang," said Sokka. "Everyone here eats meat! Even the meat!" He pointed to an extremely large hippo cow that ate 4 turkeys in one bite. Ew!

"You guys go ahead. I'll just get some lettuce from the garbage," I said, reluctantly.

I turned around. "Hotman. Hotman. Hotman." I said to people.

Some people were coming up to me and they looked pretty high-end. Oh no! They found me? How is that even possible?

"It's over. We caught ya!" The man in front said.

"Who? Me?" I said innocently.

"It couldn't be more obvious that you don't belong here."

Uh oh… My face distorts with concern. Did they seriously catch me? Come on, don't I look like your normal average Fire Nation kid?

"Next time you play Hookie, you might wanna take off your school uniform!"

I looked down at my clothes. Phew! I laughed with relief and then they grabbed me and took me to the Fire Nation School. When we got there, they pushed me in.

I looked around the classroom full of students who were all about 12.

The old teacher stared at me. "Oh. Is this a new brain ready for molding?"

"That's right!" I knocked on my head. "Let the molding begin!"

Abruptly, the teacher turned on me. "Wait a minute!" She gasped. "You're not from the Fire Nation!" My eyes widened. She walked around me. "Clearly you're from the colonies."

Thank the spirit world… "Yeah! The colonies! Of course! The Fire Nation colonies in the Earth Kingdom!"

"You're etiquette is terrible! In the homeland we bow to our elders! Like so." She demonstrated holding one hand in a fist, the other straight.

"Sorry mam," I copied her hands and then she tapped my fist with her stick. I confusedly looked around and then a pretty girl with brown hair and bangs showed me that my fist needed to be lower. I did it like her and bowed.

"And we don't wear head coverings indoors."

I fearfully put my hand to my headband. I quickly told her, "Uh… I have a scar. It's really embarrassing."

"Very well. What is your name? Or should we just call you mannerless colony slob?"

I laughed. "Just 'slob' is fine." I paused then thought about it. My best friend from the Fire Nation was named Kuzon… I look at the class and say with deep passion. "Or… uh… Kuzon."

The class was silent.

"Take a seat," the old teacher demanded.

I sat on one of the cushions and looked around. All these kids were so well-behaved and studious. They weren't kidding about molding my brain… The teacher talked about Fire Lord Ozai, his ancestors, and even about a secret river that goes straight to Ozai's palace that we'll be learning in class tomorrow! Every moment I was in that class, I was learning new things about the Fire Nation which could really come in handy when I have to defeat the Firelord. I shiver when I think about that. One day I'll have to battle him. The whole world is resting on my shoulders to take him down and the more I think about it, the heavier it became.

I met a guy named Shoji, that girl who helped me bow correctly whose name was On Ji and a few other people who were really nice too.

I got through the rest of the day fine, and figured going another day couldn't hurt.

I looked at Momo in my jacket. "We made it through the day Momo. And it was pretty fun." I said thoughtfully.

I heard a voice. "Don't let the headmaster catch you with that monkey."

I turned around quickly and situated myself. "What monkey?"

"Don't worry. I'm not a tattle-tale. My name's On Ji. I like your headband by the way."

I smiled. Her big brown eyes were friendly and she was absolutely gorgeous, maybe even more than Katara.

Suddenly are moment was interrupted by a big guy pushed me aside to get to On Ji.

"On Ji," he said. "You don't have to baby-sit the new kid." He put his arm around her.

I have to say, I was a little angered but decided to be the bigger person and go with the flow.

"Wow," I said, bowing like On Ji showed me. "You must be one of those popular kids I've been hearing about."

He smirked rudely. "That's right. Now _listen_ friend: I know you're from the colonies so I'll say this slowly. On Ji. Is. My Girlfriend. Don't forget it."

Momo moved around in my jacket and he gave me a weird look. I smiled awkwardly and laughed it off. I hope he didn't see Momo.

He had dagger eyes on me as he and On Ji walked away. Well I guess I didn't have a chance with her anyway... Besides I liked Katara more... I didn't really know On Ji, and would she really want to go out with the Avatar? I mean I had to defeat the Fire Lord... the ruler of her nation. I shook: for now I shouldn't think about defeating Fire Lord Ozai; it was bad enough I had to face him, but the anxiety of it, it was nerve-wracking.

"I don't believe it." A boy came up to me and said, "He didn't beat you up! Not even a little."

I thought about it; not to be big-headed but even if he tried, would he win? I mean really!

"I guess I'm just lucky."

His friends were behind him. "We were on our way to go play hide-and-explode! You wanna come?"

"I'd love to!" I said happily.

We ran off to play "Hide-and-Explode" which was a game I used to play with Kuzon, my old Fire Nation friend. We used to have the most fun times together (you know a hundred or so years ago)! One team hides behind things like bushes or trees while the other team tries to find you and throw mud balloons at you. If the balloon explodes on you, you're out.

"Okay, so you know the rules? Right, Kuzon?" My new friend Shoji asked.

"Yep!"

"Okay, what team do you wanna be on? Hide or Explode?"

"Hmmm... Hide!"

"Alright, I will too and you guys can be the other team!"

They nodded.

"Alright, we should split up to make it harder for them!"

We ran in opposite directions as the others counted to one hundred.

I looked around at my options: a tree, a small bush, a slightly bigger bush, and a lamp post.

Looks like a tree's my best bet.

I jumped up into the tree with my airbending and spotted them coming.

"Where are Kuzon and Shoji?"

"I don't know."

I accidentally lost my balance in the tree and fell onto the ground. They started throwing filthy balloons at me, but I dodged them with the air.

I ran super quickly. I'm lucky that using just a little bit of airbending isn't visible to anyone, otherwise my secret would have been blown (literally)!

Once I passed over a hill and couldn't see them, I hopped into a bush.

I heard an "Ow!" And saw Shoji behind the bush as well.

"Sorry!" I whispered.

"Shhh!"

They were coming and I blew a little so that they were distracted by the breeze.

"What are you doing? Breathing loudly is gonna get their attention!" Shoji whispered loudly.

They weren't distracted anymore they heard Shoji and rapidly got up from behind us, and before we knew it we had mud all over ourselves.

I laughed after the game. "That was fun!"

Shoji added. "You're not too bad for a kid from the colonies."

I giggled. "I guess so."

"I have to go home," said one Shoji's friends.

"Yeah, I should be heading home too," said the other one.

"Bye!" Shoji and I said simultaneously.

Shoji turned to me. "So, do you like our teacher?"

"Ms. Kwan?" I said. "She's... uh... interesting."

"I don't like her either! I don't think anyone does. She's so mean! But when we're in school or at home; you know, being monitored; we have to be perfect little angels. If I told you I didn't like her and she overheard us, we'd be sent to detention or worse: she would tell our parents!"

"Really?" I ask. Things were a lot more strict then they used to be.

"Yeah! I guess living in the colonies it's different…"

"Hmm, yeah I guess."

"But it gets worse: we have to recite the Fire Nation oath every single morning!"

"What is that?" I ask.

"Wow. You don't know much about the home land, do you?"

"I guess not..."

"It goes like this: My life I give to my country,  
With my hands I fight for Fire Lord Ozai,  
And our forefathers before him,  
And with my mind I seek ways to better my country,  
And with my feet may our march to civilization continue- It's pretty long. So who do you know at the school so far?"

"Well you and you're friends, the teachers... Oh! And this girl named On Ji and her boyfriend, Hide."

"Oh yeah, _them_."

I gave him a questioning look.

"Well, they're like "_The_ Couple". On Ji and Hide, they've been dating for like 3 months now. Just a word of advice, Kuzon: Don't start liking On Ji, because Hide will beat you up if you do."

It was a little too late for that…

"What will he do if I like her?" I ask nervously.

He sighs. "I'm not sure, but his parents are powerful and rich. And he has firebending, not that it's allowed at the school… Can you bend?" He asks me curiously.

My eyes widen and I shake my head. "I wish!" I lie. "Well, I better head home," I say. "Bye!"

"Bye!" Shoji said.


	2. Trouble

**Chapter 2 is edited! I do not own Avatar nor some of the scenes included in this fic! Thanks for reading! Enjoy!**

Chapter 2

Trouble

I got back to the cave. I have to say, Katara is getting a bit annoying… She worries too much. But anyway long story short they were angry at first but now see my logic in going to a Fire Nation school. It is a way to learn more about what we're dealing with. I am going to find out things that we could never learn otherwise.

The next day I packed up some things and walked to school seeing On Ji waiting patiently on her cushion. I walked to her.

"Hi," I said in a friendly tone.

"Hey, Kuzon."

I looked around, then remembered my name was Kuzon.

She laughed. "What colony are you from?"

"Oh… you know, the one by the place, it's… complicated." I explained. "Are you originally from the Fire Nation?"

"Yeah. I've lived here my whole life. My mom's a shoe shop owner and my dad used to travel around a lot because he was an Admiral."

"Wow! Your dad was an Admiral! You must be proud! What does he do now?"

"Well…" Tears came close to dripping from On Ji's eyes. Uh oh, I struck a hard topic.

"You don't have to tell me," I grabbed a handkerchief from my pocket, "if you don't want to."

She recovered. "It's okay… It's just that, well he… he was killed at the Northern Water Tribe."

The Northern Water Tribe? Who was this guy?

"By who?" I ask, wanting to know more.

"The Avatar; the one who died in Ba Sing Se."

My eyes opened wide. Oh my… no… he can't be…

"W-what…was his name?" I questioned even though I knew the answer.

"Admiral Zhao… when he killed the moon spirit; the Avatar drowned him," She said angrily.

I thought about it. "But he was in the Avatar state! I… _he_ couldn't control himself!"

"I never forgave him… I did think it was wrong of my father to kill the moon spirit, but did the Avatar _really_ have to kill him?"

"Well, he didn't master the Avatar state!" I said, defending myself. "He was only 12!"

"He was 112!"

I sighed. Those 100 years of my life were lost years and didn't contribute to any of my knowledge. But this changed some things. I really like On Ji but if I ever told her my secret, which I couldn't, she would hate me for all of eternity.

"Well, he was just protecting everyone else…" Wrong thing to say…

On Ji stared at me. "Whose side are you on? If the Avatar defeated the Fire Lord we probably would be so much more constricted than we are now! Especially with Zuko as the next one."

"I know, but the Avatar didn't intend for Zuko to rule, _nor_ Azula."

"In my opinion, Azula's better."

I thought about that. Zuko chased me around the world for a long time trying to kill me, but Azula struck me with lightning. They were pretty much on the same wavelength to me.

"But the Avatar, he, he just wanted what was best for his people…" I looked down. "And he failed twice."

"Kuzon, face it, he's ruining our lives! Or he was before he died!"

"But Sozin started the war."

"Kuzon, shhh! The teacher's coming!" She whispered, obviously exaggerated by all I said.

Regret filled me. I killed her father. I couldn't believe it. How could I? On Ji would hate me if she knew the truth!

**Line Break. On Ji's PoV**

I shook my head. What was wrong with Kuzon? Taking the Avatar's side! Who does he think he is anyway? The Avatar was _evil_. I learned that from my father, my teachers and even the textbooks.

Mrs. Kwan came in and we all stood up.

"Recite the Fire Nation oath." She said.

All of us turned around quickly, with the exception of Kuzon who looked as confused as a turtle duck who forgot how to swim.

As everyone said it, Kuzon seemed to be an outsider as he didn't know half of what he was saying.

"Firelord…forefathers…firebenders…Fire Lord…blah, blah, blah, blah," He said as we recited the oath.

Everyone giggled, including me. Kuzon can be a bit of a goofball but in the end he has good humor, although not according to Mrs. Kwan.

Everybody sat down in unison but Kuzon, who seemed very out of place.

Mrs. Kwan threw her teacher stick down on the textbook in front of her.

"Since it's obviously hilarious to mock our national oath, we'll begin with a pop quiz on our great march of civilization." She said, annoyed.

I grumbled angrily like everyone else as I got out my notebooks to write the answers.

"Question 1: What year did Firelord Sozin battle the air nation army?"

Kuzon raised his hand. _Here we go_, I thought.

"Kuzon?" He stood up.

"Is that a trick question?" He looked around the room where faces of confusion surrounded him. What was he talking about? He went on, "The air nomads didn't have a former military. Sozin defeated them by ambush."

How would he know that? I mean, if it were true. This guy really puzzles me.

"Well," the teacher said. "I don't know how you could possibly know more than our national history book…unless you were _there_ a hundred years ago."

Kuzon looked scared then said. "I'll just write down my best guess!"

When History class was over, we all took our notebooks to music class.

I picked out my erhu and Kuzon got the last instrument, the Tsungi horn.

We all got in our seats and then the music teacher tapped on the music sheet to the tempo of the song, and then started to conduct us.

Kuzon started a little late but was loud and clear, and started tapping his feet like a maniac. All of us stopped and stared at him.

"Kuzon?" The teacher inquired.

He looked around then down, "I know; I'm a terrible Tsungi Hornest."

"No, child; that hullabaloo going on with your feet: Is that a nervous disorder?" He asked.

Kuzon looked down at his feet. "I was just dancing," He answered serenely. "You do dances here in the homeland, right?" He turned to Shoji.

He replied, "Not really. No."

Dancing isn't allowed here. Why didn't Kuzon know that? Was he from the colonies or not?

The music teacher spoke, "Dancing is not conducive to a proper learning environment. Young people must have rigid discipline and _order_."

"But what about expressing yourself?" He asked.

"I know sometimes we're so moved by our love for our nation we can't control our own bodies." The music teacher slapped his head. "If you must, you may march in place quietly next time the urge hits you."

He flipped to the next sheet of music and we started playing again as Kuzon sadly marched in place while he played the Tsungi Horn, seemingly miserable. I swear, that guy is the strangest person I ever met. I didn't know much about the colonies but my cousins that lived there seemed to be just as disciplined as me, if not more. Yeah, their etiquette wasn't as good, but they weren't allowed to dance either and had to respect the Firelord like us. But Kuzon, he was different. And I was going to figure out why.

**Line Break. Aang's PoV**

When the day ended and the bell rang I walked outside and everyone stared at me and whispered to their friends.

I sighed. I ran into On Ji on my way out.

"Uh… hi, Kuzon. I really liked that crazy dance you were doing." She smiled, flirtatiously.

"Thanks, On Ji." I smiled joyfully back. "I could show it to you again if you'd like."

Out of nowhere fire was shot at me and I dodged it. I yelped.

"What'd you say colony trash? You're gonna _show_ her something?" Hide asked.

"Just some dance movements." I said, innocently.

"Nobody shows my On Ji _anything_! Especially movements!"

He tried to push me but I moved just in time for him to fall forward, although he caught himself from falling all the way down. He tried to punch again but I moved quickly sideways.

He grunted and had another fist coming for my face that I dodged. I moved, side-stepped, dodged, ducked, and everything like the monks taught me. They said to never pick a fight and if you can help it to not fight back but just dodge everything. It wastes less energy. That's the good thing about being an Air Nomad; you not only learn airbending, but you also learn a lot of defense skills.

I hid behind him and smiled as he looked for me.

I bumped him forward with my butt and he grunted again. He angrily punched more, but I was impossible to hit. I was too quick for him. He got really close and fell forward as I moved over and slammed down onto the concrete ground.

The Headmaster came out just in time to see him on the ground and me in the center of the circle (the only person to be accused of it).

Hide started crying and the Headmaster looked at me and said, "Picking fights on your second _day_? We need to have a conference to discuss your punishment! Bring your parents to my office after school!"

"Parents! But…"

"Don't be late!"

He walked away and so did Hide who grinned evilly at me.

I don't have parents… What will I do?

I walked to the cave, thinking about how I would fake this parent-headmaster conference.

"Hey, Katara!" I said.

"Hi, Aang. What did you learn about the secret river?"

"Uh…not much, but I'm kinda… in trouble…"

"In trouble? Wait what did you do?" She asks, concerned.

"Well, I fought with this guy…"

"Did you bend?!"

"No! Of course not! I'm not an idiot! Anyway, long story short, I need parents and seeing as I don't have any, I thought you and Sokka could pose as them."

Katara sighed. "Okay."

Katara and Sokka dressed up in parent clothes; Sokka with a beard and Katara with a pillow that made her look pregnant. We got to the school just in time.

"Thank you for coming, Mr. and Mrs.?" Said the Headmaster as we walked in and sat down awkwardly.

"Fire!" said Sokka, obnoxiously as he was stroking his fake beard. "Wang Fire," he gestured to Katara, "This is my wife, Sapphire!"

Katara spoke in a motherly tone. "Sapphire Fire. Nice to meet you."

"Mr. and Mrs." He paused and sighed, shaking his head. "_Fire_. Your son has been enrolled here for two days and he's already causing problems. He's argued with his history teacher, disrupted music class, and roughed up my star pupil."

"My goodness," Katara said, putting a hand to her mouth. "That doesn't sound like our Kuzon."

"That's what any mother would say, mam. Nonetheless you're forewarned. If he acts up one more time, I'll have him sent to _reform_ school! By which I mean the coal mines; are we clear?"

"Don't you worry Mr. Headmaster!" shouted Sokka. "I'll straighten this boy out something fierce!" He turned to me. "Young man as soon as we get home I'm giving you the punishment of a lifetime!" Sokka yelled, spitting all over my face. I wiped it off with disgust.

"That's what I like to hear," said the Headmaster, pleased with himself.

We left the room and went back to the cave. Then I started thinking… All these kids, so deprived of… living life! No fun, no dancing, no freedom. They couldn't be themselves in their own households! I had to do something. I had to show them how to express themselves and have fun! I had to throw – a secret dance party!


	3. A Secret Dance Party!

**Chapter 3 edited! FINALLY! **

Chapter 3

A Secret Dance Party!

It was the morning; time to send these invitations I made last night!

I walked into school and spotted On Ji.

"Hey!"

"Hi," she said back, smiling. "Sorry about Hide; he sometimes gets like that…"

"It's okay!" I said, smiling back. Wow she is _so_ pretty.

"So, um, what's up?"

"Oh!" I exclaimed, escaping from my trance. "Uh," I grinned as I took the invitation out of my bag. "I have an invite for you; read what's inside but don't repeat it. It's a secret! Oh and give this to your boyfriend!" I got another invitation out and handed it to her.

"Thanks, Kuzon!" She hugged me and read the note. "A dance party? But nobody knows how to dance but you."

"I'll teach all of you at the party. You guys _need_ to know how."

"That's awesome! I'll definitely come!" Her smile widened.

"Cool!" I turned around and walked to history class.

I gave my invitations to everyone at school and by the end of the day, it wasn't so secret.

**Line Break.**

"Hey you guys! I'm back from school and I'm ready to set up!" I yelled, putting my bag down on the floor, rushing to them.

Katara took control. "Okay I'll make a water fountain. Aang, you keep a lookout for the people. Toph, make a stage for the band. And Momo, go collect fruit!"

"What about me?" Sokka asked, stroking his fake beard – which was still attached to his face...

"Uh… go… help Momo find refreshments!"

We all went our separate ways: Toph to the middle of the cave, Katara to a small corner in it, Sokka to follow Momo, and me to the hill above the cave.

I sighed, gazing out at where the people would come.

I waited.

And waited.

And waited…

By the time the sun went down, I got worried that nobody was going to come until I heard gravel moving around on the ground. A large group of kids were traveling to the cave laughing and yelling.

I abruptly got up and airbended down to the cave.

"You guys! Stop bending they're here!" I yelled hastily.

Sokka and Momo had returned and were setting up the refreshments on a table Toph had made.

Sokka freaked out. "We have to hide Appa! We can't blow our cover."

I frowned at my big, furry pet. "Sorry buddy," I told Appa. I pushed him a little and he grunted. "I know: you got fancier feet than anybody and six of 'em!"

I turned around happily, putting my hands to my hips and admiring our setup of the cave.

When the big group of people walked in, I looked around for On Ji.

I spotted her and waved. She saw me and smiled. Everyone stood in the dimly lit cave with dull expressions on their faces. Like that minion of Azula's… what was her name? Oh yeah, Mai.

Then I realized that I needed to have an introduction.

The band got set up and started adjusting their instruments.

"Ladies and gentlemen: THE FLAMIOS!" I yelled joyfully.

The band started playing, and I immediately felt the urge to tap my foot. _Good, this should get them going!_ I hope On Ji is enjoying the party so far. I looked over my shoulder and saw her at the table with the food, biting into an apple, talking to Katara with her friends.

_Aw man,_ I thought, _she isn't paying any attention to me._ I wonder what they're talking about. What if they're talking about that one time when I cried? Or that time when I dressed like a Kyoshi warrior? Oh wait, that was Sokka…

I let it rub off. The band played loudly, and I made sure everyone was having fun.

I looked around seeing that everyone was staring at me, confused.

Shoji popped his head out of the crowd. "Now what do we do?"

"This is when you start dancing," I said, casually.

One kid looked nervously around. "I don't think my parents want me dancing in a cave."

"YEAH! What if someone finds out?" Another kid said.

I scratched my head. "Oh boy… Listen guys: dancing isn't something you think about. It's a form of self-expression that no one can ever take away from you."

Shoji came forward. "Maybe it was different in the colonies, Kuzon, but we don't do that here."

"Sure you do!" I exclaimed. "You have for generations! And it just so happens that I know several classic fire nation dances!" I gestured towards myself.

I got on the dance floor. "100 years ago, this was known as the phoenix flight!" I said squatting with my arms and hands imitating bird wings.

There were murmurs of _oooos_ and _ahhs_ in the audience.

I hopped up. "And, this was the cumulapent strife!"

I did it, and then jumped over at these girls who giggled.

I flipped backwards and bowed.

Everyone cheered.

After that I walked over to Katara and Toph. "Was I good?"

"Good?" Katara asked. "You were great!"

"Did On Ji see me?" I asked eagerly.

"Who's On Ji?" Toph asked.

"Oh! She's this _girl_." I said.

"Ooooh, looks like twinkle-toes has a _crush on someone_!" She said mostly to Katara, laughing.

Katara looked at me in the eyes. "Oh, really? That's great!"

"Well, I dunno," I blushed. I saw On Ji and her friends giggling over at another table and decided to go over there.

"I'll see you guys later!" I said, already walking towards her.

"Hi, Kuzon!"

"Hi."

"So…"

"I wanted to know if you wanted me to teach you more dance moves."

"I'd love to!"

"Okay!" I tucked and rolled and jumped up. "That's called the agitated hog monkey!"

The music changed.

On Ji blushed as I put my hand out.

She took it and we ran off to dance.

"This is how they do it in the ballrooms of Ba Sing Se!"

I did a swinging motion back and forth with my arms, keeping my hands like blades.

On Ji copied.

We smiled at each other as we danced and others joined in eventually.

I saw Katara giving me a condescending look. What's wrong? Did I do something?

On Ji noticed my discomfort.

"You okay?"

"Yeah," I said hesitantly. "Um, could you excuse me for a moment?"

"Sure." She looked a little let down, but I couldn't risk Katara getting angry; it's not a pretty sight…

I knew why she was looking at me like that. It was because she felt left out. I had to make her feel less excluded. It's not a party until _everyone's_ happy.

I put my hand out, "Take my hand."

"I don't know, Aang," Katara nervously fooled with her hair.

"Come on!"

"Well… okay!"

The music changed to what sounded like a Fire Nation classic ballroom dance. Dance through the Fire? I think that's what it was called a hundred years ago.

We danced and danced doing leaps in the air and twirls across the dance floor.

I wiped sweat off my forehead, and we both bowed.

On Ji walked over to me in excitement. "Wow Kuzon! That was amazing! Maybe you can teach me that someday," She batted her eyelashes.

"There they are! Get them!" A familiar voice yelled.

_On Ji's boyfriend, Hide!_ I thought. _How'd he find us?_

_Oh yeah I invited him_…

The headmaster and guards followed into the cave looking at millions of kids, me in front.

"Uh oh!" I screamed, as if I wasn't conspicuous enough.

I ran past everyone noticing them put bands like mine around their heads.

They were my friends! They were helping me.

Once we got to the back of the cave I stopped.

"Thanks!" I said to Shoji.

He smiled, and simultaneously, I earthbended the back of the cave to block it from the rest of the cave.

Sokka, Katara, Toph and I took off on Appa. Before I knew it, we were up in the air, leaving the Fire nation town.

Toph smiled. "I think you really taught those kids something."

I smiled modestly back.

"Yeah, it was pretty amazing, Aang," Katara said as she kissed my cheek.

I blushed, and then thought back on On Ji. I looked down by the cave which was now only a distant light in the dark.

I'd never see her again…

"Flamio, hotman! Flamio!" Sokka said, enthusiastically.

"They're really gone… Aren't they?"

Sokka shrugged. "They're fire nation… Besides, who knows, maybe you'll see them again."

I wasn't really talking about everyone. It was On Ji; although, I didn't say that, of course.


	4. Surprise!

**Edited version! Hope you like it! Not much changed! **

Chapter 4

Surprise!

"Everything okay Aang? You seem really down." Katara asked me.

"Yeah, everything's great," I lied, looking away.

It had been a whole seven hours since we left, and On Ji was going to be gone… forever.

"You sure?" She asked.

_God, stop bugging me Katara._

"Yep." I smiled big to try and mask my sadness. This was almost as bad as the time I lost Appa.

Toph stretched and yawned.

"Hey, twinkle-toes. You miss your little girlfriend?"

"She was not my girlfriend!" I said defensively, trying hard not to blush.

"Give him a break Toph. I'm sure he's just exhausted from the dance party," Katara said.

Appa flew down to a lake and started swimming. The water was brown.

"That's disgusting!" I exclaimed.

The water was full of mud. No clean water anywhere to be seen in the whole lake.

"What?" Katara said.

"The water: it's filthy!" I exclaimed.

"Oh, what should we do?" She asked me.

"I'd say we should clean it out, but we don't have enough benders. It would take weeks to clean it all out by ourselves," I informed them.

"You guys, who cares? No offense, but some random dirty body of water doesn't strike me as important. _Besides_, the invasion is only in a few weeks!" Sokka shouted, matter-of-factly. He pulled out a list, which possibly could've been the length of 500 platypus bears. "We have a lot to do before it and we need food, but I'm thinking we can fit in potty breaks here and there."

"I wonder what's causing it…" I said, almost to myself.

Sokka shrugged. "Stop worrying."

Appa flew up to a clearing in the mountains.

"We'll set camp up there," said Sokka, pointing to a place behind a tall hill.

We walked over and got out all are stuff and when we were ready, we made our way to the nearby village that was on the mucky water. How could anyone live this way?

Then something caught me by the arm and pulled me back, covering my mouth.

"LET GO!" I struggled to break loose, making sure not to use my bending.

The person let go of me. "Sorry."

I looked at a girl, in a fire nation outfit, but the big brown eyes were the thing that really told me it was On Ji. My heart leapt.

I was speechless. How'd she follow us that long? How'd she even make it? Did she seriously do this to follow _me_? And does she know who I really am now?

"Hi, Kuzon," On Ji said. Well, that answers the last question…

All the guilt came back to me. What would I do if she found out my secret? More importantly, what would _she_ do? Would she try to kill me? I mean, I did kind of kill her father; and that kind of ruined my chances with her. She could never know the truth… But eventually she _would_ find out.

"Oh, um hi, On Ji," I said searching for the right words. I had to choose carefully in order to keep my identity from her. "Did you follow me here?"

"You can't possibly have as many questions for me as I do for you. First of all, are you _really_ from the colonies or are you faking it? Are you in some kind of cult? And why'd you and your friends leave so abruptly? And what the heck is that _thing_ you're riding? I didn't come all this way to be _asked_ questions! I came for answers!"

I tried to calm myself like the monks had taught me to do.

"Okay, maybe I'm not what I seem, but I'm not bad! I swear!"

_Well, I guess I might be to her if she knew who I was…_

"The second question."

"We didn't want to get in legal trouble; isn't dancing not allowed?"

"Yeah. Okay, then what is that animal?"

"Oh, that's just A- uh - eh, my…"

On Ji gave me a look.

"Kuzon, just tell me what's up."

I nervously looked around.

"My friends are probably wondering where I am…"

I started to go.

"Wait!" She grabbed my arm again.

I looked at her.

"Meet me here this afternoon or tonight! Just once! I want to know more."

I sighed. "Okay. I will."

I walked away. Should I be happy or scared right now? I mean, she's only a centimeter away from finding out my true identity! But on the other hand, she wants to get to know me. And she's here…

Toph was waiting. "Were you talking to yourself?"

"Well, I…" I pointed back.

"I don't wanna know! Come on. Sokka's already starting to get antsy that you wandered from the group. You're lucky that you found me before you found him."


	5. Chapter 5

**UGH, I am gonna stop naming my chapters if you don't mind. Feel free to share your ideas for what might happen next. I'm kind of having writer's block right now, but at least I got a new chapter up finally! Right?**

Chapter 5

I nervously made sure my headband was still on. I couldn't take it off for a while considering On Ji was following me. How did she follow us? Did she use an animal? Surely she didn't hear any of our conversations involving the invasion… But what if she did? That would be _bad_. And I want to trust her; I really do! It's just… she's from the Fire Nation, and we've had trouble with flameos in the past. There's no reason that I _should_ trust her. She could be a spy or something – I mean, she _is_ related to Zhao.

We walked down to the village.

"Look at this town! All these poor people have lost hope!" Katara whined. She looked towards me. "Something needs to be done!"

I shook my head and put my hands up. "Don't look at me! Besides, I agree with what Sokka said: we're on a tight schedule. We hardly have time to take bathroom breaks at the rate we're going."

"In fact, by the looks of it, we're going to have to eat _while_ we take bathroom breaks!" Sokka added.

Katara rolled her eyes as we made our way to a shop for food. The man at the counter grinned. "Welcome to our village! What would you like to eat?" He pulled out a bucket of food full of dirty water and fish. "One-headed or two-headed?"

Katara and I made sounds of disgust as he pulled the fish out of the contaminated water, but Sokka inspected the fish closely and said in a casual voice. "Two-headed!"

He handed some coins to the guy at the counter. _That guy will eat anything._

"Two-headed?" Toph repeated, and then added, "Cool!"

We followed Sokka back to where we set up camp.

"Let's talk about our plans!" Sokka said enthusiastically as he put down the fish and picked up the long to-do list. "So once the eclipse is here, Aang will kill the Fi-"

"Hey! Why's - the bison's tongue purple?" I interrupted so On Ji wouldn't hear everything.

"Aang, that is SO off-topic, it's not even funny! By the way, why'd you call Appa 'the bison'?" Sokka yelled, exasperated.

I laughed nervously. "Sokka, that's funny. Maybe we should all take a break."

Everyone laughed then Toph explained, "You don't _get_ breaks. You're the Av-"

"I know." I cut her off. "Can we just not talk about this right now? I'm going to bed early today, okay?"

"It's daytime…" Katara raised a brow.

"I need some downtime! Okay?"

"We don't have time for downtime!" Sokka screamed. "_You_, more than anyone. If you are ever going to defeat Firelor-"

"Sokka-" I tried to interrupt again.

"-_FIRELORD_ Ozai, you need to be prepared," Sokka said, louder than I had hoped. "And downtime isn't going to help you! Or anyone for that matter! Keep your head on straight. We _can't_ lose again."

I could only hope On Ji wasn't close by.

"Well, I'm taking my bathroom break," I said, to get away from them.

Sokka shrugged. "Be my guest. Don't blame me when you don't get to eat though."

I left and went to find On Ji. Just as I was out of earshot, I called her name. "On Ji?"

"Kuzon?" A hopeful voice asked. "What were you talking about with your friends?"

On Ji came out from behind a rock.

"I-"

"All I heard was that guy – the loud, goofy one – call you Aang? Is that your real name?"

"Uh – well, I mean – " I started to scratch my head anxiously.

"It's okay. I was just wondering… Is everything I know about you a lie? And why are you named after the Avatar?"

"Not _everything's_ a lie. On Ji, I – I really like you, but I don't know if this is the best time for you to be around me…" I admitted, sadly.

On Ji looked at me with sorrow all of the sudden and then buried her face in her hands and started sobbing. "I'm sorry, Ku – Aang, I just – I've been lied to countless times and I thought I could trust you, and I thought you liked me and I really like you and I've never met someone so sensitive and nice and sweet like you," she gasped to catch her breath.

_Whoa_, I thought. I bit my lip not sure what to do.

"Aang? Aang?" Katara called out.

My eyes opened widely. "On Ji," I put my hand on her shoulder. "I'll tell you everything, I swear. And you can travel with me and my group. We'll keep you safe. There are some things about us that you might not understand and some things I might not ever be able to tell you but you can trust me. I'd never let anything happen to you."

She blinked. "Really? Thank you, Aang." She rushed over to me and hugged me.

**Line Break. On Ji's PoV**

He took me back to where they were, and I could tell from the moment I saw his friends' faces that I wasn't welcomed. No one said anything against me staying with them, but I could sense their discomfort. Where _are_ they from? Certainly not the colonies.

"Hey guys," Aang said with a strange look on his face. He was grinning, but in a way that was obviously masking another emotion. Was he scared?

His goofy friend put a hand to his mouth.

The younger girl, who seemed to be blind, smiled and reclined on a stone. Somehow she knew exactly where I was…

The other girl kept looking back and forth from me to Aang with a skeptical look on her face, as if trying to decipher some cryptic code.

I broke the silence. "Um, hi, I'm On Ji."

The blind girl nodded. "I see."

Strange for a blind person to say that…

Aang spoke. "Um, yeah, so everyone, this is On Ji as she said. And um, that's Sokka, Toph and Katara."

I smiled. "It's nice to meet all of you."

This is _so_ awkward.

Aang shrugged. "Someone please say something."

Sokka looked at me, then at Aang, then back again, just like Katara had done. "Uh, _Kuzon_, can we talk in private?"

"I already know his name is Aang," I informed him.

Sokka raised a brow. "What _haven't_ you told her?!"

"Sokka, it's okay. She's harmless."

"Is she? How much did you hear?" Sokka gained up on me.

I put my hands up. "Nothing, I swear. Just that his name is Aang."

Sokka narrowed his eyes.

Toph spoke up. "She's not lying."

"How'd you get here? How'd you follow us?" Sokka asked.

"My dad was a general. I stole is old mongoose dragon."

"Mongoose dragon?" For some reason all four of them shifted uneasily. "Where is it now?"

"It's back over there," I pointed to it. "It's pretty far away."

"How convenient," Sokka narrowed his eyes.

I kept a steady gaze. I don't know why but I felt like I had to prove myself to Aang's friends.

Toph shrugged. "She hasn't told a single lie Sokka. Get off her case. I'll tell you when she does."

How does she know I haven't lied? Does she have some sort of power?

Sokka nodded half-heartedly. "I still need to talk to Aang alone."

Aang looked reluctant but went off with Sokka anyway.

I heaved out a heavy sigh. That was very stressful. Aang is a decent person, but this Sokka guy? I don't like him. And those devilish looks Katara is giving me? I wouldn't be surprised if Sokka and Katara were brother and sister!


End file.
